Gas fireplace

ABSTRACT

A gas fireplace can have a prefabricated firebox, a heat engine, a controller, and a prefabricated hearth. The gas fireplace can have a clean face, so as to appear as a wood burning fireplace. The controller can be within and/or below the hearth. The hearth can be configured with a false front or side to conceal the controller.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e)of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/239,035, filed Sep. 1, 2009,titled GAS FIREPLACE, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Certain embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to gas fireplaces.

2. Description of the Related Art

There are many types of heating devices for home or office use, such asfluid-fueled heating devices or gas fireplaces. Some gas fireplaces areportable or easily moved and others are installed on or into a wall orfire box with a chimney. Some devices are direct vent and others arevent free. For example, a vent free gas fireplace can be added to a roomthat does not have a chimney or that was not originally designed for afireplace. These devices can provide many benefits including adding heatand/or changing the aesthetics of a room.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In some embodiments, a gas fireplace can comprise a prefabricatedfirebox, a heat engine configured to produce a fire in the firebox, aprefabricated hearth and a controller connected to the heat engine. Thecontroller can be in the hearth. The controller in some embodiments isnot visible from a front face of the gas fireplace.

In some embodiments, a gas fireplace can comprise a prefabricatedfirebox, a heat engine to provide fire in the firebox, a controllerconnected to the heat engine, and a prefabricated hearth. The hearth canbe at the bottom of the fireplace and connected to the mantel. Thecontroller can be in the hearth and at least a portion of the hearth canopen to reveal the controller.

Further features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparentto those of skill in the art in view of the detailed description ofpreferred embodiments which follows, when considered together with theattached drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to better understand the embodiments of the disclosure and tosee how it may be carried out in practice, some preferred embodimentsare next described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters denotecorresponding features consistently throughout similar embodiments inthe attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gas fireplace.

FIG. 2 shows a front elevation view of another embodiment of a gasfireplace.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of a firebox with heat engine.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of a gas fireplace showing access tothe controls.

FIG. 5 illustrates a detail exploded perspective side view of anotherembodiment of fireplace.

FIG. 6 is a detail perspective side view of another embodiment offireplace.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In designing a fluid-fueled heating device, such as a gas fireplace,there are many different and sometimes competing considerations that thedesigner has to balance. These considerations include aesthetics,reliability, cost to manufacture, ease of installation, typical costs ofinstallation, accessibility of the controls, etc. As an example, somegas fireplaces have the controls on the face of the fireplace; this mayincrease their accessibility but may also be considered to be lessaesthetically pleasing. Alternatives to this solution include remotecontrols, installing wiring to place the controls away from thefireplace, and hiding the controls behind a grate.

As another example, it is also desirable to increase the size of theopening in the face of a firebox in the fireplace. It is desirable tomake the opening as large as possible in the space available to providethe largest room available for the fire. It is also desirable for thefireplace to have a clean, uncluttered look. Excess materials, panels,grates, etc. can distract from the beauty of the fireplace and makecertain aspects of the fireplace out of proportion or out of place.

For the purposes of this application, a “clean face fireplace” is a gasfireplace without obvious controls on the front or sides of thefireplace. A “fully clean face fireplace” is a clean face fireplacewithout metal grates above, below or within the opening of the firebox.A “natural clean face fireplace” is a fireplace that looks like anatural fireplace. This would be because there is nothing on the face ofthe fireplace that a normal wood burning fireplace would not have. Inother words, from the perspective of the passerby, it is simply afirebox or a firebox with mantel and hearth.

A clean face fireplace may have a remote control and/or wired controls.Both of these configurations have certain drawbacks. For instance,remote controls are easily lost or broken. Depending on the climatewhere the gas fireplace is used, it may be primarily used during certaintimes of the year. This can leave an entire season during which a remotecontrol can be misplaced.

Wired controls are more permanent and often require installation in awall close to the fireplace. Wired controls can be installed similar toa light switch or electrical outlet. Though wired controls cannot beeasily lost like a remote control, installation is time consuming,increases the cost of the fireplace and is not something that thetypical consumer can do on their own.

Other fireplaces have been designed to hide the controls behind aremovable grate or drawer. This allowed the controls to be convenientlylocated and easy to find. Unfortunately, the grate or drawer decreasesthe size of the firebox so that the fire is smaller, fills up less spaceand has less of a presence in the fireplace. The grate or drawer cantake up a large section or portion of the fireplace. This grate ordrawer can be within the firebox so that the firebox has an additionalfloor of the chamber where the fire is or it can be below the firebox.

Turning now to FIG. 1, a gas fireplace 10 is shown. In the preferredembodiment, the gas fireplace 10 in FIG. 1 is a vent free fireplace, inother embodiments, other forms of fireplaces could be used, such as adirect vent fireplace and still retain some advantages. As can be seen,the gas fireplace 10 may have a firebox 2 defining an opening 3 forviewing the fire, a heat engine 4, a screen 6, a hearth 8, and a mantel12. The gas fireplace 10 can have no visible controls on the face of thefireplace and is desirably a clean face fireplace. Looking at FIG. 5, incertain fireplaces, the opening 3 can have a floor 11 and the fireboxcan have a bottom 13. In some embodiments, the floor 11 and the bottom13 are the same.

The hearth 8 is an area which extends in front of, to the sides ofand/or below the firebox 2. In some embodiments, the hearth 8 is brick,stone, concrete, wood, an imitation material, etc. The hearth 8 can bethe lowest section of the fireplace. The hearth 8 may provide a baseupon which the firebox rests. The hearth can be made from the same or adifferent material than the firebox 2. In a preferred embodiment, thehearth is made from the different material than the prefabricatedfirebox.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of a gas fireplace 10′ similar to thegas fireplace 10 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view ofa gas log set 14 and flames or fire 16. The gas log set 14 can give thefireplace 10′ the appearance of a real wood burning fireplace.

Now looking at FIG. 3, part of the gas fireplace 10′ is shown withoutthe mantel or hearth. As illustrated, a frame 22 desirably at leastpartially encloses or surrounds the firebox 2, a hood 18, the heatengine 4 and a controller or heater controls 20. The firebox 2 can havea floor 24. In some embodiments, the heat engine 4 has certaincomponents above the floor 24 and certain components below the floor 24.For example, a pressure regulator, control valve, and air shutter can bebelow the floor 24 and a burner assembly and oxygen depletion sensor canbe above the floor 24. In some embodiments, a gas log set 14 can be usedto hide or shield certain components of the heat engine 4 which areabove the floor 24. For example, the components of the heat engine 4,shown in FIG. 1 can be shielded by a gas log set 14 to cause anappearance similar to that illustrated in FIG. 2.

The heater controls 20 can be in the hearth 8. The heater controls 20can be below the upper surface 7 of the hearth and behind the frontsurface or panel 9 (FIG. 2).

The heater controls 20 can comprise an ignition control 26 and a flamecontrol 28 (FIG. 3). The ignition control 26 can comprise a knob,button, switch, lever, or other mechanism configured to assist inigniting a flame in the firebox 2. For example, the ignition control 26can be an ignition button which is part of a piezoelectric starter. Thepiezoelectric starter can have a small, spring-loaded hammer which, whenthe ignition button 26 is pressed, hits a piezoelectric crystal (such asa quartz crystal). The piezoelectric crystal creates a voltage whendeformed and the sudden forceful deformation produces a high voltage andsubsequent electrical discharge which ignites the gas.

The fuel control 28 can comprise a knob, button, switch, lever, or othermechanism configured to control the flow of fuel to combust in thefirebox 2. For example, the fuel control 28 can incorporate a manualactuator such as a control knob that can be adjusted to adjust theheight or size of the flame in the firebox. In some embodiments, thecontrol knob has the following positions: pilot, off and on. In the offposition, the control knob can block the flow of fuel into the firebox2. In the pilot position, the control knob can allow fuel to flow to apilot light or oxygen depletion sensor (ODS). In the on position thecontrol knob can allow the fuel to flow to both the pilot or ODS and theburner assembly. The on position can be adjustable between high and lowpositions, wherein high and low refer to the height of a flame in thefirebox.

Now looking at FIGS. 4-6, various embodiments and methods are shown toprovide a clean face gas fireplace with heater controls 20 concealedfrom view. For example, in FIG. 4 the hearth 8 can have a panel defininga false front 30. The false front 30 can open to reveal the heatercontrols 20. In some embodiments, the false front 30 is hinged at oneside 32 and configured to pivot open. For example, the false front 30can be in a closed position when it is not needful to access the heatercontrols 20. Generally, after starting or turning off the heater it isnot necessary to access the heater controls 20 until a change isdesired. The change can be to turn the heater on or off or to change asize of the flame in the firebox 2.

In some embodiments, the false front 30 can have a mechanical latch 34to secure the false front 30 in a closed position. In some embodiments,the mechanical latch 32 comprises a magnet and a spring. The false front30 can be opened by pushing inward to release contact with the magnetand then moving outward.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show different embodiments of a false side 36, 36′ of thehearth 8. In FIG. 5 the false side is attached at the bottom by a hinge.In FIG. 6, the false side is configured to slide out of place to allowaccess to the heater controls 20. As shown, the false side 36′ isconfigured to slide towards the front of the fireplace. In otherembodiments, the false side or front can be configured to slide upwards,downwards, to the front, back or sides, or away from the fireplace. Insome embodiments, the false front or side can be configured to retractinto the fireplace. In some embodiments, the false front or side candisengage or be removed from the hearth. The false front or side canslide on rails 38. In some embodiments, the false front or side can beconfigured to perform a combination of sliding and/or rotationalmovements.

A gas fireplace according to the disclosure provides many benefits. Forexample, the fireplaces disclosed herein can be clean face with novisible controls. In addition, the fire place can provide a largeropening as the controls are located below the firebox. Thus, there is noneed for a grate in the opening of the firebox to conceal the heatercontrols. The methods and systems described herein have no added coststo the fireplace. They are also simple and robust solutions. The heatercontrols in the hearth are convenient, can be easily located, and do notincrease the costs.

The fireplace can be sold with a remote control. This gives the addedbenefit of the convenience of the remote and the security of knowingthat if the remote becomes lost or become, the controls can still beeasily accessed.

Although this invention has been disclosed in the context of certainpreferred embodiments and examples, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the present invention extends beyond thespecifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodimentsand/or uses of the invention and obvious modifications and equivalentsthereof. Additionally, it is contemplated that various aspects andfeatures of the invention described can be practiced separately,combined together, or substituted for one another, and that a variety ofcombination and sub-combinations of the features and aspects can be madeand still fall within the scope of the invention. Thus, it is intendedthat the scope of the present invention herein disclosed should not belimited by the particular disclosed embodiments described above, butshould be determined only by a fair reading of the claims.

1. A gas fireplace comprising: a prefabricated firebox; a heat engineconfigured to produce a fire in the firebox; a prefabricated hearth; anda controller connected to the heat engine; wherein the controller is inthe hearth.
 2. The gas fireplace of claim 1, wherein the controllercomprises a manual actuator.
 3. The gas fireplace of claim 1, whereinthe controller comprises an electrical controller.
 4. The gas fireplaceof claim 1, wherein the controller comprises an ignition button and acontrol knob.
 5. The gas fireplace of claim 1, wherein the controller isnot visible from a front face of the gas fireplace.
 6. The gas fireplaceof claim 5, wherein the on position is adjustable between high and lowpositions, wherein high and low refer to the height of a flame in thefirebox.
 7. The gas fireplace of claim 1, further comprising a gas logset.
 8. The gas fireplace of claim 1, further comprising a screen. 9.The gas fireplace of claim 1, further comprising a prefabricated mantel,wherein the mantel is above and on the sides of the firebox and isconnected to the hearth.
 10. The gas fireplace of claim 1, wherein thegas fireplace is a vent free fireplace.
 11. The gas fireplace of claim1, wherein the hearth has a false front, openable to reveal the heatercontrols.
 12. The gas fireplace of claim 11, wherein the false frontcomprises a hinged door.
 13. The gas fireplace of claim 11, wherein thefalse front comprises a sliding panel.
 14. The gas fireplace of claim11, wherein a front of the hearth including the false front has acontinuous profile as viewed from a side of the fireplace.
 15. The gasfireplace of claim 11, wherein at least a portion of a side of thehearth has an identical profile to the false front.
 16. The gasfireplace of claim 1, wherein the hearth has a false side, openable toreveal the heater controls.
 17. The gas fireplace of claim 16, whereinthe false side comprises a sliding panel.
 18. The gas fireplace of claim1, further comprising a box.
 19. The gas fireplace of claim 1, whereinthe gas fireplace is preassembled.
 20. A gas fireplace comprising: aprefabricated firebox; a heat engine to provide fire in the firebox; acontroller connected to the heat engine; and a prefabricated hearth atthe bottom of the fireplace; wherein the controller is in the hearth andat least a portion of the hearth opens to reveal the controller.
 21. Thegas fireplace of claim 20, wherein a front of the hearth opens to revealthe controller.
 22. The gas fireplace of claim 20, wherein a side of thehearth opens to reveal the controller.
 23. The gas fireplace of claim20, wherein the controller comprises an ignition button and a controlknob.
 24. The gas fireplace of claim 20, further comprising a screen anda gas log set configured to give the fireplace the appearance of a woodburning fireplace.
 25. The gas fireplace of claim 20, wherein the gasfireplace is a vent free dual-fuel gas fireplace.
 26. The gas fireplaceof claim 25, wherein the vent free dual-fuel gas fireplace is configuredto connect to a source of natural gas or a source of liquid propane. 27.The gas fireplace of claim 20, wherein the heat engine comprises apressure regulator, a control valve, an air shutter, a burner assemblyand an oxygen depletion sensor.
 28. The gas fireplace of claim 20,further comprising a prefabricated mantel configured to be positionedproximate the firebox.